Production well testing comprises a process for acquiring data on new and existing wells, for example, oil and gas wells. The types of determinations that may be made by well operators include: geophysical boundaries, flow rates, maximum flow rate, zone permeability, reservoir pressure, gas and effluent sampling, and zonal contribution.
Production well testing apparatus typically comprises a cylindrical pressure vessel separator configured in either a horizontal or a vertical orientation. The pressure vessel can be used in a number of exploratory and remedial applications, including the following: formation effluent clean-up, well bleed-off, pipeline bleed-off, well start-up, gas flaring, work-overs and under balanced drilling.
Production well testing equipment is typically configured on a skid or as a trailer mount unit which is transported via heavy duty truck tractors on established road networks proximate to the well site. Because of the requirement for road transportation, there are also seasonal limitations for dry seasons or winter periods when the ground is frozen. For example, in northern climes, such as Canada or Alaska, temporary roads may be built over the frozen ground or lakes in the winter.
It will be appreciated that the seasonal restrictions on the movement of production well testing equipment using conventional techniques gives rise to a number of problems for well operators including, limited availability of service companies for production well testing, dealing with extreme weather conditions, higher costs and the over-extension of operational and logistical resources, diminished productivity.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improvements to address the shortcomings associated with conventional production testing equipment in the art.